[ad_1] When you hail from a powerful lineage of gospel royalty, preserving and protecting your legacy can never be taken lightly. Grammy and Stellar Award-winning gospel artist, actress, and fashion designer Kierra “KiKi” Sheard is no exception. The Detroit native is the daughter of renowned gospel singer Karen Clark Sheard of The Clark Sisters and the granddaughter of legendary gospel choral director Mattie Moss Clark. Sheard co-starred and portrayed her mother in the hit Lifetime movie The Clark Sisters: The First Ladies of Gospel. The biopic premiered earlier this year with 2.7 million viewers, making it Lifetime’s highest-rated movie since 2016. Sheard, however, almost passed over the role, but thankfully with the sound advice of those closest to her, she decided to go forward. Musically, she recently dropped her latest album KIERRA (Karew Entertainment / RCA Inspiration) which garnered more than 3 million streams in its first week and debuted at No. 1 on several industry charts. As always, she’s bossing up with her fashion line, Eleven60, available at Macys.com. As a full-figured woman, Sheard designs from the consumer’s perspective. “Full-figured consumers have often complained that it is difficult to find quality clothing in their size.” The brand celebrates its fifth anniversary this year. And speaking of celebratory milestones, the recent announcement of her engagement to Jordan Kelly only confirms with overwhelming evidence that indeed she’s blessed and highly favored. Kierra Sheard and her fiance Jordan Kelly (Photo Credit: Mel B. Elder, Jr.)During this unprecedented time in our history—it is necessary to nurture healthy and meaningful conversations around issues like inequality, injustice, and systemic racism. Moreover, we need to include conversations that under-gird the progression and perpetual advancement of our culture and that is—legacy. The late Dr. Mattie Moss Clark was creating a legacy through the music ministry of her daughters. Some may recall (in the Lifetime movie), the isolated incident when the oldest Clark sister (Twinkie) sold her music catalog to purchase a car. Thankfully, the catalog was retrieved several years later. Today, their music has inspired millions and has been sampled by Shawn “Jay-Z” Carter and others in the industry, according to Sheard. Generational progression is important, especially as African Americans. “I would like to have things for my unborn children, nieces, and nephews so that they don’t have to work as hard as I am working.” She references other family legacies like the Marriott’s in how they established their business, positioned their family, and build a legacy so that each generation can be covered. She believes that the next generation can be covered if the “now” generation handles it well. When these principles are instilled and passed down in our businesses, it helps the family to be recession-proof, stabilized, and less apt to stress and angst. “The suffering will not have to be so heavy when we can think about and plan for tomorrow and not just today.”